About
Title
Product Design Engineer
Experience
Since 2018, products to mass production
Work
Furniture, homeware, everyday objects
Availability
From Feb 2027
I'm Jack, a product design engineer working with founders and small brands who make physical products. For eight years I've taken products from first sketch to mass production, with launches for global brands and two design awards.
Most founders have never worked with a factory, so the work is built around that. I find and price the unknowns early, end every stage with a review, and hand over files a factory can quote from.
Using less material lowers unit cost and impact together. Material, finish, repair and end-of-life advice comes with every project, and I calculate footprint figures only when a project needs them.
Those eight years were at D3O, where I went from junior designer to senior designer and sustainability lead. I took impact protection for sport and motorcycle brands through testing, tooling and launch, and learned that the option using less material is often the better product.
Skills
Five areas of work
Research and briefs
- Writing the brief and requirements
- Taking apart competitor products
- How and where the product is used
- Early checks that the idea can be made
- Cost and risk review
Concept design
- Sketching
- Two or three concept options
- Card and foam models
- Direction images, labelled when generated
- Design reviews with you
Engineering and CAD
- Production-ready CAD
- Tolerances and fits
- Strength checks by computer simulation (FEA)
- Drawings a factory can quote from
- Files for prototypes and 3D prints
Manufacture
- Design for manufacture (DFM): making sure it can be made reliably at the price
- Choosing the process: moulding, sheet metal, 3D printing
- Factory quotes and samples
- Tooling reviews
- A review and sign-off at the end of each stage
Materials and footprint
- Material and finish choice
- Using less material
- Repair and spare parts
- End-of-life advice
- Screening life cycle assessment: a first estimate of the footprint, when a project needs one
Experience
Career
- Product Design EngineerOwn practiceFrom Feb 2027
- Senior Designer and Sustainability LeadD3O2024 to now
- Senior Product DesignerD3O2022 to 2024
- Product DesignerD3O2020 to 2022
- Junior Product DesignerD3O2018 to 2020
- MEng Product Design and Manufacture, FirstUniversity of Nottingham2014 to 2018
This is my own independent practice. It is not connected to D3O, and the views on this site are my own.
Won't do
- Shiny projects that look good and never sell.
- Generated images passed off as the real product.
- Claims, green or otherwise, with no data behind them.
- More material than the product needs.
- Designs that can't be made at the price.
- Invoices that surprise anyone.
AI
How I use AI
I use AI for research, writing, scripts and early ideas. I make and sign off every design decision.
Used for
- Research and briefs
- Writing and documents
- Making tools
- Early direction
Never used for
- Signing off a design
- Final images
- Engineering and safety calls
If a client would rather AI stayed off their files, that's agreed in the SOW before work starts. AI has an energy cost, so I only use it where it saves time.
More
Contact
Get in touch
Tell me what you're making and where it's up to. The first call is free.
Based in south-west London, working with UK and EU clients.